The Mayor's draft water strategy - london.gov.uk - Greater London ...
The Mayor's draft water strategy - london.gov.uk - Greater London ...
The Mayor's draft water strategy - london.gov.uk - Greater London ...
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40 <strong>The</strong> Mayor’s <strong>draft</strong> <strong>water</strong> <strong>strategy</strong><br />
• summer mean temperatures may rise<br />
on average by 2.7 degrees and winter<br />
temperatures by 2.2 degrees<br />
• summer cloud cover may decrease by up to<br />
ten per cent.<br />
2.39 <strong>The</strong>se changes to the seasonality of rainfall,<br />
increases in temperature and decreases in<br />
summer cloud cover will have a dramatic<br />
effect on the availability of, and demand<br />
for <strong>water</strong>.<br />
• Heavier rainfall can run off the ground<br />
rapidly, limiting time that is needed for<br />
<strong>water</strong> to slowly penetrate into the ground<br />
and top up our ground<strong>water</strong>.<br />
• Drier summers will mean that <strong>water</strong>ways<br />
will have low flows and be more sensitive<br />
to any pollution.<br />
• Increased frequency of extreme weather<br />
including droughts could create a need for<br />
new resources.<br />
• Warmer winters will lengthen the growing<br />
season, increasing the demand for <strong>water</strong><br />
from vegetation (whilst also reducing the<br />
‘winter recharge period’ for our aquifers)<br />
• Hotter summers will increase the amount<br />
of <strong>water</strong> lost by evaporation.<br />
• Increased subsidence and heave from<br />
fluctuating soil moisture will lead to more<br />
broken <strong>water</strong> mains.<br />
• Heavier rainfall may overcome surface<br />
<strong>water</strong> drainage networks, causing flooding.<br />
Climate Change Act 2008<br />
2.40 <strong>The</strong> Climate Change Act 2008 addresses<br />
the issue of adaptation to the full range of<br />
climate change risks. It introduces a power<br />
for the Secretary of State to require public<br />
bodies and statutory undertakers, including<br />
<strong>water</strong> companies and the GLA, to carry out<br />
their own risk assessments and make plans<br />
to address those risks. <strong>The</strong> <strong>gov</strong>ernment<br />
will be consulting on its <strong>strategy</strong> for using<br />
this power later this year. In addition, the<br />
<strong>gov</strong>ernment must report at least every<br />
five years on the risks to the UK of climate<br />
change, and publish a programme setting<br />
out how these impacts will be addressed.<br />
2.41 Water companies will be expected to use<br />
the new projections to assess the impacts<br />
of climate change on their Water Resource<br />
Management Plans. Thames Water has<br />
stated that it will undertake a sensitivity<br />
analysis of the proposals in its Water<br />
Resources Management Plan using the<br />
UKCP09 information.
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